Democrats Who Once Backed Biden Are Calling For Him To Drop Out

Following the first presidential debate, several Democrats are calling for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 election. But just a few weeks ago they were unshakable in their conviction that the president was on top of his game.

Here are a few Biden allies who spoke on Biden’s capacity for presidency.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), for example, railed against The Wall Street Journal in early July over stories from Democrats claiming Biden was exhibiting cognitive decline during private meetings.

Pelosi fired back on social media, declaring that dozens of Democrats had recounted their own encounters with Biden, focusing on his decency, intelligence, innocence, and strategic planning.

In February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) defended claims that Biden had a “bad memory” after the leader was questioned about allegations by a special counsel.

“I talk to President Biden regularly. Usually several times in a week. His mental acuity is great, it’s fine, it’s as good as it’s been over the years,” Schumer told reporters.

“I’ve been speaking to him for 30 years since we worked on the Brady Bill, the assault weapons ban when I was a young congressman,” Schumer said. “He’s fine. All this right-wing propaganda that his mental acuity has declined is wrong.”

Meanwhile, in February Mitch Landrieu – who is one of the co-chairs for Biden’s reelection bid – also dismissed assertions that there might have been signs suggesting he was unable to perform.

“I’m telling you this guy’s tough, he’s smart, he’s on his game,” Landrieu said on MSNBC. “When you’re going to brief the president, you’d better have your big boy pants on. And this kind of sense that he’s not ready for this job is just a bucket of BS that’s so deep your boots will get stuck in it.”

Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) even went as far in February to claim that when it came to the Hamas attack on Israel, Biden was “sharper” than anyone he spoke with about it.

“I was in Israel on October 7 as you know, and President Biden was nice enough to call me,” Goldman said on CNN. “I can tell you he was sharper than anyone I’ve spoken to about a very complex, geopolitical, urgent issue.”

Three weeks ago, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said suggestions that Biden was showing “mental feebleness” were wrong and that he still has a “firm and consistent command.”

“Of course Joe Biden is over 80 years old, and like any human being over 80 years old, that means there’s a little diminished energy,” Coons told Politico.

“I think what is highlighted in some of the, in my view, attack reels that I see on other news outlets is not evidence of mental feebleness but is either evidence of a lifelong stutter, or the result of having an incredibly demanding schedule and having served in public life 50 years,” he said. “When I say that I find him sharp and commanding, and I have no concerns about his mental acuity, I’m being honest.”